Blueberries for Breakfast
by TheDrReid
Summary: Jack asks for Spencer's help to make his dad breakfast on his birthday. [set around s9] "It's Daddy's birthday, so I wanted to make him a special breakfast before he woke up." Jack explained, glancing up at Spencer. "That's sweet, Jack, we can make breakfast or your dad..."


**AN:/ This was written for the Trope Bingo prompt food/cooking & I know the title is kinda random but I didn't know what else to title it lmao anyway, I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you thought, and though I'm gonna be filling most of the prompts from my trope bingo card, I'm also still taking requests for this fandom, so if you have any let me know!**

 **Thanks to 6adb0y on tumblr for betaing!**

When Spencer woke up that Saturday morning, far earlier than he usually would on a rare weekend off, it probably took him longer than it should have to figure out exactly what had woken him. Being half asleep, it took him a few moments to even realise that he was at Aaron's apartment instead of his own. Aaron's warm body was pressed against his back, an arm wrapped around his waist in his sleep and Spencer could tell Aaron was still asleep, if the deep, even breaths he felt against the back of his neck were any indication. Satisfied that he had probably just drifted awake, Spencer relaxed and closed his eyes again, ready to slip easily back into sleep before he was jerked awake again by a solid poke to his chest. Before he could panic and assume the worst or reach for his glasses, a soft voice whispered his name,

"Spencer! Wake up!" Jack whispered, urgently though he was obviously trying to do his best not to wake his father up. For a moment, Spencer was confused, what issue could Jack possibly have that he would want Spencer's help with and not Aaron's? That was, until Spencer remembered exactly _which_ Saturday it was. November 2nd. Aaron's birthday. More alert now, though still in need of a coffee or two, Spencer brought a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes, fumbling for his glasses with the other. He smiled when Jack passed them to him and slipped them on, finally able to focus on the young boy currently stood next to his side of the bed.

"What's the matter, Jack?" He asked softly, slowly trying to prop himself up on one elbow without moving too much so that he wouldn't wake Aaron.

"I need your help." Was Jack's response, still in the same exaggerated whisper. The boy glanced at his father to make sure he was still sleeping when Spencer moved and, when he was sure Aaron wasn't going to wake up, grabbed hold of Spencer's hand in an attempt to drag him out of bed. For a moment, Spencer worried it could be something bad and debated whether or not he should just wake Aaron anyway. But a closer look at the younger Hotchner's body language dissuaded him. He didn't seem hurt in any way and whatever it was, it was clearly urgent to Jack but was something he was excited for rather than worried about. So, setting aside his, what he was sure were irrational, concerns, Spencer slowly and gently withdrew himself from Aaron's grasp and let Jack lead him out of the room, fixing his pajamas as he followed along.

"What is it you need help with?" He asked once they were out of earshot of the bedroom, following Jack down the hall towards the kitchen.

"It's Daddy's birthday, so I wanted to make him a special breakfast before he woke up." Jack explained, glancing up at Spencer.

"That's sweet, Jack, we can make breakfast or your dad, I'm sure he'd-" Spencer started to say with a smile until they finally stepped into the kitchen and he saw the state of the room. Waking him up to help clearly hadn't been Jack's first option.

"Aunt Jess makes this special toast sometimes when I stay with her. And one time I helped her make it, so I thought I could make it by myself but I couldn't remember all the steps and then I spilt some of the mixture...so I came to get you." Jack rambled on sheepishly, looking down at the floor as if he thought he was going to be in trouble.

Sighing, Spencer glanced around the kitchen at the mess (which upon further inspection, wasn't as bad as he'd first thought) and then back at the boy in front of him, at a loss for what to say. Even with all the practice he'd had babysitting Henry and even though he and Aaron had been seeing each other for a while, Spencer still wasn't quite used to parenting. After taking a moment to think it over, Spencer crouched down in front of Jack, "It's okay, Jack. I'm sure your dad will really appreciate you doing this for him. And I know you wanted to do it by yourself but it's important to always have an adult with you in the kitchen, just in case you get hurt, okay?" Even though the boy was eight, and interested in learning how to cook, he wasn't old enough yet to use the oven or stovetop by himself. Spencer waited until Jack nodded to show he understood and smiled when he seemed to cheer up a little. "Okay, let's get this cleaned up first and I'll help you make the toast. French toast, right?" Jack nodded excitedly, beaming up at him and Spencer smiled as he gave him a pat on the shoulder before standing up again, the pair stepping further into the kitchen to get started.

It didn't take long for Spencer to clean up the mess that Jack had made before, which turned out to be a small spill and mostly just dishes piled up. He put away the things they wouldn't need, separating out the ingredients that Jack had got right and getting out the ones he had missed, which hadn't been very many. Spencer didn't have much practice making French toast but he knew the basics and besides, he knew Jack wanted this to be his birthday treat for Aaron so his help mostly extended to lifting Jack up to sit on the counter (confident he wouldn't fall and something that the boy took much delight in, probably because Aaron would never let him sit on the counter) and talking him through it while he washed up the dishes that Jack had attempted to use before, all while making himself coffee. He watched as Jack stirred the mixture together as he washed the last of the dishes and dried his hands, taking out a frying pan and lightly oiling it before he turned back to Jack, "Is it all mixed?" He asked, sure that by now it was.

"I think so. Check, Spencer?" Jack asked, obviously eager to get it all just right. He passed the mixing bowl over to Spencer, who checked that it was all mixed with a smile and nodded.

"It's perfect, good job, Jack!" He said, mirroring the boy's enthusiasm and smiling even more when Jack grinned up at him. "Okay now here's the part that I need to do and you need to be careful, okay?" He said, making sure Jack was paying attention, showing him each of the steps rather than just taking over. "Okay-" He said, pouring some of the mixture into the pan and setting it on the stovetop, turning it onto a medium heat and making sure Jack was far enough away from it that he wouldn't burn himself. "We need to heat this up a little bit." He explained, glancing over at Jack and smiling to himself when he noticed that the boy was watching what he was doing with rapt attention.

"Then what, Spencer?" Jack asked curiously as he turned his attention to the genius.

"Then, we put the bread in, can you pass it to me?" He asked, taking the load from Jack when he eagerly handed it over. Taking the two slices from the loaf, he carefully placed them in the pan and set the loaf back down on the counter. "They need about 20 seconds each side, can you count that for us?" Spencer laughed when Jack began to count to 20 excitedly, and maybe just a little too loudly considering they were supposed to be avoiding waking Aaron. In fact, Spencer was surprised Aaron wasn't already awake. With a laugh, he shushed Jack and took the spatula to flip the bread over, shaking his head fondly when Jack clamped a hand over his mouth and leant forward as if to try and look around the corner to see if he had woken up his dad.

"Whoa, be careful you don't fall." Spencer said quickly, laughter turning to worry within seconds as he held out a hand to prevent Jack from falling off, before taking a plate from a stack of plates on the counter once they had gotten him settled again. "These two are done," he said as he put them on the plate and showed them to Jack, "do you think that's enough or do you want to have a go with two more?"

"Me! I want a turn!" Jack almost shouted, forgetting all about his worry over ruining the surprise as he shifted to face Spencer and the pan properly, tucking one leg under the other. He grinned as Spencer handed him two more slices of bread and, under Spencer's watchful eye, carefully placed them in the mixture before starting to count to 20 again. When he reached 20, Spencer handed him the spatula and carefully helped him to flip them over, smiling as Jack started to count again. Neither of them heard the bedroom door opening or Aaron's footsteps until Jack reached 20 again and Aaron startled them from the doorway.

"What are you guys up to?" He asked, watching them as he leant against the doorframe, a soft, amused smile on his face as the pair in question turned to look at him in surprise.

"It's supposed to be a surprise, Daddy! Go back to bed!" Jack insisted, stubborn and maybe whining just a little as he handed the spatula back to Spencer to let him take over the cooking, crossing his arms over his chest and looking over at his father who stepped further into the kitchen instead of straight back out like his son was ordering him to.

He watched as Spencer turned the stovetop off and plated up the toast, smiling a little to himself. "This looks like breakfast to me." He chuckled, looking first at Spencer and then at Jack, raising his eyebrows a little when his son groaned in frustration.

"It was supposed to be a surprise special breakfast, and me and Spencer were gonna bring it to you in bed but now the surprise is ruined!" Jack whined, pouting with disappointment as he looked at the plate of French toast slices in Spencer's hand.

"Oh buddy…" Aaron said, shaking his head a little as he stepped up to hug his son, "I'm still surprised and it's still a special breakfast if you made it for me. Did you make it all by yourself?" He asked, sharing a look with Spencer before he glanced down at Jack, who seemed to listen to everything his dad had said and thought it over for a moment before he accepted it as truth that no his birthday treat for his dad hadn't been ruined. He hesitated before answering, looking up at Spencer who nodded with a reassuring smile and a wink to show he was okay with Jack taking all the credit.

"Uh yeah…" Jack answered, looking back up at his dad, but, was quick to add, "Spencer helped a bit and showed me how."

"Well, thank you both. I'm sure it's going to be a lovely birthday breakfast." Aaron said, smiling as he pressed a gentle kiss to Jack's head before he stepped back and looked at the plate Spencer was holding. "I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to eat all that by myself though, how about we go sit down and dig in?"

He helped Jack down from the counter, raising an eyebrow slightly as he looked over at Spencer who just shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Their little moment was interrupted by Jack hurrying towards the kitchen door, shouting excitedly as he went, "I have to go get your presents first, Daddy!"

That threw Aaron slightly, he hadn't been expecting anything, though he probably should have realised that Jack would have wanted to get him something and that Jessica would have taken him to get something, even if it was something small and that, this being his first birthday shared with his lover, Spencer would have most likely gotten him something too. Still, he had the presence of mind to stop his son before he could go too far or get too over excited, "Breakfast before presents, buddy!" He reminded him.

"Even for adults?" Jack asked as he stopped in his tracks in the doorway and spun around to face the two grown ups with a pout.

Ignoring Spencer's barely held back laughing, Aaron nodded as he tried to keep a straight face as he looked over at his son, "Yes, even for adults." He said, taking the plate of toast from Spencer, handing it to Jack, "Why don't you go take this to the table and Spencer and I will be right in with more plates, okay?"

As soon as Jack had left the room, Aaron turned to his lover, smiling fondly at him and stepping close to kiss him gently, wrapping his arms around his waist lightly. The kiss lingered but eventually, Aaron pulled back, tucking a stray strand of Spencer's hair behind his ear as he did, "Thank you." He murmured, smiling softly at him.

Spencer simply shrugged, reaching over to grab a mug out of the cupboard for Aaron, "Oh, I was just as surprised as you." He chuckled, stepping back to starting making them each coffee and turning the stovetop back on. "It really was all his idea. Speaking of," taking two smaller plates, Spencer handed them to Aaron with a playful smile, "you should probably go in there before he gets impatient. I'm just gonna make us drinks and myself another two slices to make it even."

Aaron took the plates from him and leant over to kiss his cheek gently, just before Spencer was proven right yet again when they heard a muffled, 'Dad, are you coming?' from the other room. He chuckled a little as he smiled at his lover and stepped back, "All his idea, huh? He sure is independent." He rolled his eyes fondly at the 'wonder where he gets that from' look that Spencer was giving him. "You know he's not gonna let us start eating until you're sat down with us too, right?"

Humming, Spencer nodded, already almost done with his own slices. "I won't be long. Now go." He laughed, shaking his head fondly, as he watched Aaron step back holding his hand that wasn't hold the plates up in mock surrender.

"I'm going! I'm going!" Aaron laughed, stopping once again in the doorway though as he smiled over at Spencer. "Love you." He murmured softly.

"Love you too." Spencer murmured, blushing a little, even still those words from Aaron made him blush. Only then did Aaron actually leave the room to go sit at the table with Jack and Spencer smiled to himself, watching the doorway for a moment before turning back to his breakfast. He loved moments like these, family moments like these that he'd never had before, moments like these that really made him feel like he belonged in the Hotchner apartment with these Hotchner men, especially when he heard a frustrated Jack call his name from the other room, followed by his father in a far more playful, teasing manner call out, "Yeah, Spencer! We're waiting!"

He laughed to himself as he turned off the grill and plated up his own French toast, grabbing cutlery for them all before realising there was no way he'd be able to carry all that and the drinks. Still, that couldn't take the smile from his face as he hurried to the other room to set his plate down and hurried back for the drinks, looking forward to sitting down to breakfast with his family.


End file.
